NO JAB, NO POLICY?

…Old Mutual considers vaccination status for new clients

• By Confidente Reporter

EFFECTIVE last Friday, vaccination status is now being considered when assessing new underwritten life and funeral cover applications at Old Mutual Namibia, Confidente can exclusively reveal.

This new reality will mean those taking out new funeral and life cover will need to declare their vaccination status in addition to their personal and medical information at application stage.

With this information, Old Mutual will assess the customer’s overall risk and decide whether or not to grant cover and, if so, which exclusions to apply and what premium to charge, an information brochure seen by Confidente affirms.

Unvaccinated clients who are allowed to access policies will have to pay more premiums than those vaccinated.

This also comes at the backdrop of declining vaccination uptake where the daily vaccination uptake has stagnated to between 3 500 and 4 000, and over 20 000 per week from all regions, far from the projected daily target of 10 000 vaccinations.

In an inquiry last week, Ndangi Katoma, Old Mutual Namibia’s executive: marketing, communication and customer strategy confirmed this new development highlighting that Covid-19 has brought many changes that impacted businesses.

Read the full story in this week’s edition.